Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TODE20260727014
- Term of Validity
- 27 July 2026 - 27 July 2027
- Company's Country
- Germany
- Type of partnership
- Investment agreement
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
General information
- Short Summary
- A German industrial biotechnology company offers enzyme technology, proprietary screening know-how and process-development expertise for plastic degradation and modification. Partners are sought to co-develop and validate applications, provide application expertise and pilot infrastructure, and progress successful solutions through technical assistance, licensing or co-commercialisation.
- Full Description
-
A German industrial biotechnology company offers enzyme technology and development know-how for the controlled degradation or modification of plastics. The offer combines an enzyme portfolio, a proprietary enzyme-development platform, a patent-pending screening technology and process scale-up capabilities. It is intended for international partners that want to create and commercialise enzyme-enabled applications in recycling and in further fields where selective polymer degradation or modification provides value.
Many polymer applications still depend on energy-intensive, insufficiently selective or chemically harsh treatment steps. Enzymes can act on defined polymer structures under comparatively mild conditions. Depending on the use case, they may recover reusable monomers, alter a surface without treating the complete material, remove selected components or coatings, support separation, reduce surface defects, or enable new end-of-life properties.
The core screening technology is based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It can test both enzyme candidates and solid polymer samples and continuously monitor the complete degradation process under different temperatures, pH values, enzyme loadings and substrate compositions. The resulting time-resolved proprietary data reveal degradation kinetics and material behaviour and help distinguish enzyme, material and process limitations. This enables targeted selection or engineering of enzymes and avoids relying solely on isolated end-point measurements.
The preferred starting point is an enzyme from the company’s portfolio. If no available candidate meets the target profile, the proprietary enzyme-development and screening platform can be used to identify and optimise a tailored enzyme. Promising enzyme-material combinations can be integrated into an application and transferred from laboratory studies to process demonstrations between 0.2 and 100 litres.
Potential cooperation fields include enzymatic depolymerisation and monomer recovery, polymer and textile surface modification, selective coating or component removal, material separation, biodegradability and compostability, and the design of materials for enzymatic end-of-life treatment. The company is also interested in partner-defined applications beyond recycling where conventional approaches do not provide sufficient selectivity, efficiency or sustainability.
A research cooperation agreement is sought for joint feasibility assessment, enzyme selection or development, application integration and validation. The partner contributes its polymer, product, production and market expertise, while the company contributes enzyme technology, screening data and process-development capabilities. Early participation by an innovative pilot customer is intended to anchor development in a real application and provide representative operating conditions and acceptance criteria.
Following successful validation, a commercial agreement with technical assistance may cover transfer of the enzyme-enabled process, scale-up support, application-specific know-how, training, enzyme supply and licensing. Depending on the application and contributions of the parties, longer-term models may include joint development, licensing or co-commercialisation. The intended outcome is a technically validated solution, a defined intellectual-property and commercial framework, and a credible route to industrial implementation and market entry. - Advantages and Innovations
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The offered technology enables selective degradation or modification of suitable polymers under mild process conditions. In enzymatic recycling, polyester waste can be converted into reusable monomers for new material with virgin-like quality. The same selectivity creates value beyond recycling by modifying polymer or textile surfaces, removing selected coatings or components, supporting material separation or introducing controlled end-of-life functions.
The technology combines high-performing polyester-degrading enzymes with a proprietary enzyme-development platform and patent-pending screening based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The platform evaluates both enzyme candidates and solid polymer samples under different temperatures, pH values, enzyme loadings and substrate compositions. Time-resolved data reveal whether performance is limited by the enzyme, material or process and enable focused improvement.
Enzyme performance provides a measurable economic advantage. A preliminary techno-economic assessment for a 45,000-tonne-per-year plant indicates potential total process-cost reductions of up to 20% compared with a benchmark enzyme from an established competitor. The model was reviewed with an external engineering partner. Higher activity can reduce enzyme demand and processing time while increasing reactor productivity.
The technology has progressed beyond laboratory screening. Enzyme-material combinations and process parameters can be validated from 0.2 to 100 litres and translated into substrate preparation, enzymatic treatment, recovery, product-quality assessment and preliminary commercial-scale process design. This integrated transfer package reduces development interfaces and gives partners a credible basis for licensing, industrial implementation and co-commercialisation. - Stage of Development
- Available for demonstration
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal
- Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
- Goal 15: Life on Land
- Goal 13: Climate Action
- Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- Goal 14: Life Below Water
- IPR status
- IPR applied but not yet granted
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
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The company is seeking international industrial partners, research organisations and innovative pilot customers that want to co-develop and commercialise applications for enzymatic plastic degradation or modification. Cooperation is explicitly not limited to recycling. Relevant opportunities also include polymer or textile surface modification, selective coating or component removal, material separation, defect reduction, biodegradability, compostability and other functions in which controlled enzymatic action offers greater selectivity, efficiency or sustainability than existing treatments.
The partner should contribute application-specific expertise that complements the company’s enzyme and process capabilities. This includes knowledge of the relevant polymer, formulation, product, production environment and customer requirements. It should provide representative materials or feedstocks and help define the desired enzyme function, benchmark performance, process constraints and measurable acceptance criteria. Access to application-specific testing, analytical methods, pilot equipment or production trials is expected where required for realistic validation.
Under a research cooperation agreement, both parties would jointly assess technical and commercial feasibility and agree on work packages, milestones, responsibilities, data exchange and intellectual-property treatment. The company would select or develop enzymes, generate degradation and material data, optimise enzyme-material interactions and validate integration under relevant conditions. The partner would evaluate product performance, operability, scalability and market fit and contribute expertise in formulation, downstream processing, quality, regulatory requirements and certification where applicable.
The earliest possible involvement of an innovative pilot customer is strongly desired. The pilot customer should provide a concrete use case, representative operating conditions and clear acceptance criteria. It should support practical trials and early market feedback so that development is guided by a real purchasing or operational need rather than by laboratory performance alone.
After successful validation, a partner under a commercial agreement with technical assistance should be able to implement or industrialise the technology. Depending on the agreed model, its role may include process engineering, manufacturing, regulatory and certification work, enzyme or formulation production, application support, sales, distribution and customer access. The company can provide application-specific know-how, enzyme technology, technical transfer, training and scale-up support.
Longer-term cooperation may include licensing, enzyme supply, joint development or co-commercialisation. Partners with established market access and the ability to fund and execute pilot and industrial implementation are particularly relevant. The intended outcome is a complementary partnership in which the company provides the enabling enzyme technology and development platform, while the partner supplies application leadership, industrial validation and a credible route to market. - Type and Size of Partner
- SME <=10
- SME 50 - 249
- University
- Other
- SME 11-49
- R&D Institution
- Big company
- Type of partnership
- Investment agreement
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Research and development cooperation agreement
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 06002003 - Enzyme Technology
- 06006004 - Biopolymers
- 02007014 - Plastics, Polymers
- Market keywords
- 08001017 - Industrial chemicals
- 08004002 - Chemical and solid material recycling
- 08001018 - Polymer (plastics) materials
- 04005 - Biochemistry / Biophysics
- Targeted countries
- All countries